The Las Vegas Raiders and Minnesota Vikings will open up their respective preseasons on Saturday afternoon out in the Midwest, and there will be plenty to watch for with both teams figuring things out at quarterback.

Sam Darnold is expected to open the year as the starter for Minnesota over rookie JJ McCarthy and will do the honors of beginning this one for the home side, while the Raiders will give two candidates a quarter each.

What do we make of this matchup, and better yet — how do we make money from it?

Let’s get right into it with our Raiders vs. Vikings predictions and NFL picks for August 10.

Raiders vs Vikings prediction

My best betUnder …

In 2011 Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the emir of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, received a letter. It came from a group of Emirati intellectuals inspired by the recent wave of pro-democracy protests sweeping through the Middle East and north Africa, and requested a range of modest reforms, including an extension of the voting franchise which at the time encompassed just 2% of the country’s population.

No marching on the streets. No popular unrest. Certainly no disorder of any kind. Just a letter. Nonetheless, with a regime petrified to the point of paranoia by the spectre of political Islamism, the reprisals would be swift and merciless.

Ramifications of City’s two-year ban may be seismic – not least for U…

Virgil van Dijk says his return to action for Liverpool this summer has felt “very emotional and very tough”, and that he has jumped a mental hurdle after recovering from 10 months out with anterior cruciate ligament damage.

Liverpool enjoyed a comfortable evening at newly promoted Norwich on Saturday, winning 3-0 and experiencing only occasional alarm at the back. The conditions were ideal for Van Dijk to play his first competitive football since being injured at Everton last October, and he explained that he felt ready after coming through a challenging comeback game last month when Liverpool lost 4-3 against Hertha Berlin in a friendly.

Liverpool condemn homophobic chanting aimed at Billy GilmourRead more

“T…

Footballers are 50% more likely to develop dementia than the rest of the population, a study has found, fuelling calls to restrict rules around heading the ball in football.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, published in the Lancet Public Health journal today, compared the health records of 6,000 elite footballers and more than 56,000 non-footballers between 1924 and 2019.

They found that among male footballers playing in the Swedish top division, 9% were diagnosed with neurodegenerative disease, compared with 6% of the control sample.

The study examined differences in cognitive health for outfield players versus goalkeepers. Researchers discovered that outfield players …

Manchester City pulled no punches in describing the failings of their opponents. “The decision contains mistakes, misinterpretations and confusions fundamentally born a basic lack of due process”, they argued in a vituperative assessment. “There remain significant unresolved matters raised by Manchester City FC as part of what the Club has found to be a wholly unsatisfactory, curtailed and hostile process.” Where do you go after that?

Well, five years on from the above remarks, issued in response to charges from Uefa alleging breaches of financial fair play (FFP) rules – charges that were found proved but then overturned on appeal – City are still angry, but this time with the Premier League. On Monday their chief lawyer, Simon C…

If you bounce around the non-Spain or England-based internet, you may find that this World Cup Final is a Final no one wanted. Australia would have been more exciting given the noise that would have accompanied them. One of the real upstarts like Colombia would have been a real story. USWNT fans don’t like watching anyone else in that spot. England is…well, England. Haven’t exactly spent centuries winning the hearts and minds of the world over, have they? And Spain, despite their collection of delightful players and the most watchable style, can’t escape the narrative of the players that aren’t here. On the field, a better final couldn’t really be asked for. These are probably the two best teams in the world, whatever horseshit the FIFA rankings throw up. While England hav…

Some people are fans of the Los Angeles Rams. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Los Angeles Rams. This 2017 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the previews so far here. Your team: Los Angeles Rams. Your 2016 record: 4-12. From Will Brinson at CBS, here is the drive chart from L.A.’s first two games of last season: PUNT PUNT PUNT INT PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT PUNT INT PUNT TURNOVER ON DOWNS KNEE FIELD GOAL PUNT PUNT PUNT FIELD GOAL PUNT FIELD GOAL PUNT PUNT END OF GAME God, that is so hot. I’m tweaking my nips just reading through it. Anyway, that list of war crimes above was merely the opening salvo to a long, miserable first season in LA, a turgid slog that led to the (televised!) firing of longtime coach and “guy who�…

Some people are fans of the Carolina Panthers. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Carolina Panthers. This 2014 Deadspin NFL team preview is for those in the latter group.
Your team: Carolina Panthers
Your 2013 record: 12-4. The Panthers won the division and were able to save Ron Rivera's job. OH SHIT THEY SAVED RON RIVERA'S JOB DEAR GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! You know what they say: If you can't spot the obvious candidate for regression in 2014, then YOU are the obvious candidate for regression in 2014.
Your coach: Ron Rivera. You know the story by now: overly conservative coach gets shit on for being overly conservative, then overly conservative makes a big show of actually taking risks like going for it on fourth down (when going for it on fourth …